Best Mascot 2014 Official Rules

USA’S BEST HIGH SCHOOL MASCOT OFFICIAL RULES

USA TODAY High School Sports (“Sponsor”) is sponsoring a national competition of high schools to determine the best high school mascot (school nickname). Sponsor will select 408 high schools, which will consist of eight (8) high school mascots from each State and the District of Columbia. Sponsor will publish the 408 schools on www.usatodayhss.com commencing on or about March 31, 2014. There will be three (3) rounds of voting by the public to determine The Best High School Mascot. Voting is open to all individuals who are legal residents of the U.S. or District of Columbia and who are 13 years or older at time of voting. Your computer must accept cookies, or any successor or similar technology, which may be used for the purpose of vote tracking. Ad blocking software on your computer needs to be disabled so that it doesn’t interfere with processing your votes. Multiple votes submitted by means of software generated or other automated processes will be disregarded and disqualified.

State Voting: Beginning at 12:00 p.m. (E.T.) March 31, 2014 and ending at 12:00 p.m. (E.T.) April 8, 2014 all eligible voters may submit votes by going to http://contest.usatodayhss.com/ select a State or D.C. from the map posted on the website, and vote for one of the eight (8) listed high school mascots in each State or D.C. The 51 high school mascots that receive the highest number of eligible votes, along with the top five (5) high schools in the nation that received the highest number of eligible votes but did not win their state, will advance the Regional Voting. There is no limit to the number of times an individual can vote.

Regional Voting: Beginning at 12:00 p.m. (E.T.) April 9, 2014 and ending at 2:00 p.m. (E.T.) April 17, 2014, all eligible voters may submit votes by going to http://contest.usatodayhss.com/ select a Region and vote for one of the high school mascots. One (1) high school mascot for each of the eight (8) regions, along with the top two (2) high schools in the nation that received the highest number of eligible votes but did not win their state, will advance to the National Voting based on the highest number of eligible votes received. There is no limit to the number of times an individual can vote.

National Voting: Beginning at 12:00 p.m. (E.T.) April 18, 2014 and ending at 2:00 p.m. (E.T.) April 25, 2014, all eligible voters may submit votes by going to http://contest.usatodayhss.com/, The high school mascots that receive the highest number of eligible votes will be the winners. There is no limit to the number of times an individual can vote.

Winner Notification & Prizes: Winning schools will be notified on or about April 25, 2014. Sponsor will call during regular business hours and will leave no messages. Failure to reach a winner by phone after three (3) attempts may result in disqualification of winner, forfeiture of the prizes, and selection of a substitute winner.

There will be ten (10) prizes with a total ARV of $4500. First Place Prize: The Athletic Dept. of the winning school will receive $2,000 and a banner [ARV: $2075]. Second Place Prize is $1,000 and a banner for the Athletic Dept. of the winning school [ARV: $1075]. Third Place Prize is $500 and a banner for the Athletic Dept. of the winning school [ARV: $575] Fourth Place Prize is $250 and a banner for the Athletic Dept. of the winning school [ARV: $325]. Fifth Place Prize is a banner for the Athletic Dept. of the winning school [ARV: $75]. Sixth Place Prize is a banner for the Athletic Dept. of the winning school [ARV: $75]. Seventh Place Prize is a banner for the Athletic Dept. of the winning school [ARV: $75]. Eighth Place Prize is a banner for the Athletic Dept. of the winning school [ARV: $75]. Ninth Place Prize is a banner for the Athletic Dept. of the winning school [ARV: $75]. Tenth Place Prize is a banner for the Athletic Dept. of the winning school [ARV: $75].

Prizes are nonassignable and nontransferable. No substitutions allowed by winner. Prizes are not redeemable for cash. Prizes and individual components of prize packages are subject to availability and Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value. Winners are solely responsible for reporting and payment of any taxes on prizes. Except where prohibited, acceptance of any prize constitutes winner’s consent to the publication of the name and likeness of the schools, Athletic Director, and team members, in any media for any commercial or promotional purpose, without limitation the Internet, or further compensation.

Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify persons found tampering with or otherwise abusing any aspect of this promotion as solely determined by Sponsor. In the event the promotion is compromised by a virus, non-authorized human intervention, tampering or other causes beyond the reasonable control of Sponsor that corrupts or impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper operation of the promotion, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the promotion. Should the promotion be terminated prior to the stated expiration date, Sponsor reserves the right to award the prize money based on the eligible votes received before the termination date. Sponsor will not be responsible for failure to receive votes or other electronic communications due to transmission failures or technical failures of any kind, including, without limitation, malfunctioning of any network, hardware or software, whether originating with sender of Sponsor. In the event of a dispute, all votes will be deemed to have been submitted by the owner of the ISP account from which they were sent. For these purposes, an ISP account holder shall mean the natural person assigned to such ISP account by the Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning ISP addresses for the domain associated with such ISP account. Any questions regarding the number of entries or votes submitted by the owner of an ISP account shall be determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.

The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any such provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, these rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein.

The Best High School Mascot is sponsored by USA TODAY High School Sports. The decisions of Sponsor regarding the selection of winners, eligibility of votes, and all other aspects of the promotion shall be final and binding in all respects. Sponsor will not be responsible for typographical, printing or other inadvertent errors in these Official Rules or in other materials relating to this promotion. If you have any questions or for a copy of this Official Rules, please contact Derek Samson at dsamson@usatoday.com or Pat Scanlon at pscanlon@usatoday.com.

SUBJECT TO APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.